Wilhelm I of Wurttemberg

Wilhelm I of Wurttemberg (27 September 1781-25 June 1864) was King of Wurttemberg from 30 October 1816 to 25 June 1864, succeeding Friedrich I of Wurttemberg and preceding Karl I of Wurttemberg.

Biography
Wilhelm was born in Lueben, Prussia (now Lubin, Poland) on 27 September 1781, the son of Friedrich I of Wurttemberg and Augusta of Brunswick. He was a rebellious youth, and he was arrested in 1799 after attempting to flee from his parents' home. In 1800, he volunteered in the army of the Holy Roman Empire, fighting at the Battle of Hohenlinden before reaching the rank of Major-General in 1803. From 1804 to 1805, he studied in Paris, France after Wurttemberg allied with Napoleon I, and he commanded the 15,800-strong Wurttemberger army sent to assist Napoleon during his 1812 invasion of Russia; only a few hundred Wurttemberger troops returned from the disastrous campaign. Wilhelm would be given command of another army when Wurttemberg joined the coalition against the First French Empire in 1813, leading it to victory at Bar-sur-Aube, La Rothiere, and Paris itself in 1814. In 1815, during the Hundred Days campaign, he was defeated at the Battle of La Suffel, but he managed to capture Strasbourg by the time that Napoleon surrendered. From 1816 to 1864, he reigned as King of Wurttemberg, and he was once liberal; however, following the 1848 Spring of Nations, he became a reactionary. He died in 1864.